Etsy Crush of the Week and Contest- The Modern Stylographer

You will lose yourself in his Etsy shop filled with nearly 200 gorgeous minimalistic and modern designs showcasing your favorite fandoms across the galaxies. He’s got everything from Doctor Who, Star Wars, Star Trek, X-Men, Harry Potter and so much more.

And the best part is, three lucky readers will get a chance to win a print from The Modern Stylographer! The only hard part is deciding on which one to get! Details on the contest below. Check out my interview with the artist Chris Petersen, owner of The Modern Stylographer below. (It’s one of my favorite interviews!)

Chris Petersen: Simply stated, I’m a yankee in a foreign land with sorted thoughts and a childlike wonder about the universe. The rest is much more complicated. I began my professional career in education as a Computer Science major at a small college in NY, there I proceeded to major in Informations Systems, Marketing, and then General Art Studies. I didn’t really find myself as an artist, or person for that matter, until I went to a retrospective on Jackson Pollock at the MOMA in NYC. To this day I have no idea why his work affected me so strongly. So I ended up at art school three years into my college career. I had been pretty spectacular as a code monkey, but as an artist and designer, I was practically illiterate. It took me two more years to truly feel like I knew what I was doing. I think the turning point for me was when a friend told me that I wasn’t an artist, I was a designer. Things clicked for me then. I was meant to be a designer, I was destined to bathe in structure and rules of good design. I may never have a “moment” like other fine artists, but that doesn’t matter to me. Balance and color and composition, font and leading, crop marks and Pantones are my guides and how I apply them to my life gives me satisfaction.

GGG: How long have you been designing?

CP: I’ve been in the design field professionally for six years now and running my own second design business for about three. I graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2006 with degrees in Graphic Design and Advertising Design and have been doing my best to escape the crushing pressure of my student loans. Debts aside, my true passion is creating art that is exciting, recognizable, and feels like it’s part of the future.

GGG: Where do you get the inspiration for all of your designs?

CP: To be honest, most of the time I get an image in my head of a word or a shape or color and need to get it down on paper or on the computer as soon as possible. Many of my more object and nature based series’ are born that way. There will however be the occasion when a franchise or movie will pop into my head and I will have to create a design on the spot so I carry notebooks with me at all times. I’m not doing anything revolutionary, I know that. But what I am trying to do is create a connection with other people through art the best way I know how… with the stuff fanboys’ and fangirls’ dreams are made of. I know I’m doing something right when I’m selling posters about how to deal with Zombie Unicorns.

GGG: How would you describe your artistic style?

CP: I hope I can use keywords… I’m a little bit Mod, Minimalist, Victorian, Steampunk, Futurism, with some Constructivism and a tiny bit of Post Modernism. That’s my best attempt to describe a dark, simple, clean aesthetic as if I were an intellectual.

CP: It’s a motley crew to be sure… Pollock of course was my first favorite and remains at the top of my list. Other artists I’ve added are Piet Mondrian, Picasso, Kazimir Malevich, graphic designer Neville Brody, famed type designer Erik Speakerman, and industrial designer for Apple, Jonathan Ive.

GGG: Since you’re a fellow Whovian I’ve got to ask, who is your favorite doctor and favorite companion?

CP: I’ll be sticking to contemporary Who in my work, although I would be remiss if I didn’t at least mention Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen, AKA the fourth doctor and Sarah Jane Smith. I have to say that for me, the strongest companion/doctor team would be David Tennant and Catherine Tate. I think that their off-screen friendship and creative endeavors have really fed my love for their character’s chemistry.

GGG: If you were on a deserted island what would video game, book, movie, TV show would you bring?

CP: Is it solar? That won’t change my answers, I just like details. I would have to say for video game, Final Fantasy VII but with faster loading times. I know I’m not 12, but I would sew all seven Harry Potter books together into one massive “book” to read over and over and over again. Honestly, Clue is one of my all-time favorite movies and I think that I would need to have that with me. Finally, the one television show would be Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I’m not sure why, but I need to have the slayer on that island.

9 thoughts on “Etsy Crush of the Week and Contest- The Modern Stylographer”

Victoria Weinell - October 1, 2011 10:30 pm

My favorite fandom, is actually something I didn’t see mentioned on this lovely artist’s list. Stargate has been my fandom of choice nearly my entire life. The film came out when I was two, SG1 not too many years later. I grew up on it; it’s what introduced me to science fiction and fantasy. Not only was the show exciting and fantastic, but it was fairly family friendly and a great bonding experience to have with my father. I’d love to see some Gate art from this artist. I’d be a regular customer, without a doubt.

I love everything, but I’d have to say that my favorite fandom would be Nintendo related. Stuff like Mario, Metroid, Zelda, Kirby, and Pokemon. That stuff is a huge part of my childhood, and I have some of the best memories from playing those games.

My favorite Fandom would have to be Doctor Who! The show itself is just all sorts of wonderful whimsy, and manages to renew (or should I say regenerate) itself. It has moments that are heartfelt, suspenseful, or just fun!

The fans are great. Many are so creative, so it’s not just merchandise from the developer that you can find, and they really put thought into their creations like the artist featured. And many are full of knowledge about the show and it’s history. What’s funny is just in the last few years have I met quite a few friends who are watchers of the show. The fandom of Doctor Who is kind of like a bit of a family :-)

My fave fandom has to be comics!!! Love the medium, simple and plain. It’s the perfect mix of words and pictures put together to tell a story only limited to the imagination of the creator(s) so what’s not to love?

Favorite character would have to be Nightwing in any costume version because Dick Grayson is the best!

I gotta say Anime. Some of the best and iconic movies, tv shows, etc. have come from anime. Ghost in the Shell and Gundam to D. Gray Man and Teeny Witches no medium has made more well crafted and diverse as anime has bar none! And the fandom its spurred on from gamers to cosplayers pretty much says it all right there :)

My favorite fandom is Harry Potter, I named a child after a character in the series, awaited book debuts and lamented over many, many movies. BUT, if I won, I would have to choose the epic Storm poster.